1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to blocker for use by a goaltender in street hockey.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Until fairly recently, blockers were only used in ice hockey. However, blockers for street hockey goaltenders ("goalies") are now known. These blockers are much lighter than ice hockey blockers, since instead of a hard puck, all that is being blocked is a much lighter and softer street hockey ball, or very commonly, a tennis ball. The blockers which are presently available have a generally planar rectangular blocking pad having a blocking side and an inner side. One version has a sleeve sewn to the inner side of the blocker, including a thumbguard which extends therefrom and has a fixed sewn strap for the goalie to insert his (or her) thumb, and a finger flap also sewn to the inner side, including a sewn finger strap for the goalie to insert his fingers. The blocker is controlled by virtue of the sleeve, the thumb strap, and the finger strap.
In the prior art, because the thumbguard is fixed in position, blockers are either for the left hand or for the right hand. Since a goalie wears a blocker on one hand only, the other hand being for a catching glove, the blockers are therefore supplied as being either for the left hand or for the right hand, rather than as a pair. This means that retailers must stock both left hand and right hand blockers, rather than being able to carry an inventory of only one type.
In street hockey, which is rarely organized, play tends to be very informal, and players tend to switch positions with great regularity. Thus in the course of normal play, it is very common for a number of different people to take the goalie position. Some persons prefer to wear the blocker on their left hand, and some on their right hand, regardless in many cases of whether or not they are right-handed or left-handed. If the only blocker available is for the left hand, and the goalie prefers to wear it on the right hand, there is an obvious problem. It is very frequent that a group of street hockey players will not have enough equipment to go around.
A need for a universal blocker, i.e. one which could be adapted for use on either the left hand or the right hand, was therefore recognized. Such a blocker would not only appeal to consumers, since it could be used by more people, but would also appeal to retailers, since they would only have to stock one version of the blocker, rather than separate left-hand and right-hand versions.